Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 and if I did no one under the age of 18 would be allowed to watch.
Hey everyone it's time again for another chapter of my favorite transforming hero and his hot and sexy partner. Thanks to all of you who send me reviews, it really helps get my gears turning knowing you all want more from me. Well I'm gonna try again and ask if anyone is willing to do fanart for this fic. I would love to see how great you guys are, but if not, then the show will go on. I would like to thank Xeikm, whose stories are reading my drive to write this story, and my wonderful Beta Otaku Maiden, who has given up a lot of time to proofread my stories and make sure they make sense. Alright, now it's time for the main event. Enjoy!
Curious Dragons
Chapter 8
After the introduction ceremony, Ben and the others were released to their instructors. Ben felt nervous as he looked at the two people who'd be watching over him. As he looked over at Marello, the young man smiled and started speaking, "Alright everyone, Tasha and I are going to introduce ourselves. Yeah, yeah I know they did that in there, but I think it'd be better for us if we all introduced ourselves."
"First off, my name is Marello Laun Martelli. I was born and raised here in Bellwood, and I come from a long line of dragon riders. I have two young cousins training to be dragon riders but one was unwilling to go through it at first. My partner is Arc; he is a Glacier blue dragon, he does breath fire, however his flames are not that powerful, however he does have the power to breathe a powerful mist the turns whatever it touches to ice. Hmm…Well that's all I've got for now, Tasha you wanna go now?"
Tasha, who had her arms still crossed under the breasts, nodded her head and smiled at her students. "My name is Natasha Alexandra Crane. I was born on a small island not too far off Paragon's shoreline. I became a dragon rider under the request of my grandfather. At first I hated all the training but after awhile, I learned to become one with the free-willed spirit of a dragon, which is something I'm glad I didn't miss out on. The dragon I call my partner is a Lavender Sors Dico dragon. Her name is Xylene, and she has telepathic and telekinetic abilities, and that's all I will tell you right now. I want the short-haired blonde to start off."
Michael rolled his eyes and looked at the group of peers and instructors. "I'm Michael La' Stat Morningstar. I am 17-years-old and my father is a respected commander in the Royal Army. I like to read, so once you show me the library I will be spending a lot of time there, unless someone would like to keep me company…" the blonde said as he smirked in Ben's direction.
Ben merely shook his head and replied, "Sorry I'm taken."
Marello snickered behind his hand and looked to Cooper to start.
The tall teen blushed as he looked into his teacher's eyes. "Umm…Well I-I'm Cooper James Daniels and I'm not really a people person. Growing up, I was more interested in technology than people and dragons; when my parents found out I had the potential to be dragon rider, they tried to get me to into the idea, but after I told them that it really wasn't for me, they let it go."
Alan looked over at Cooper and said, "Yeah and he wasn't this tall and sexy up until five months ago."
Cooper blushed at Alan's statement and glared at him. Marello sighed and looked to Alan to be the next one to start his introduction.
Alan cleared his throat and gave them a bright smile, "The name's Alan Ziggy Albright. I have an older brother who just graduated the Academy and is in special training with his dragon. Manny Arm "big" strong is my bro and if you're wondering, we're half-brothers; we share the same mom, but have different dads. Marello over there is my oldest cousin and kicks ass in almost any video game he picks up. As for me, I just wanna go back to being a civilian. I said no the first time and I just wish they'd just let me go."
When Alan finished, Tasha gestured for Ben to go. The brunette swallowed and let out a nervous laugh. "Uh, the name's Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, but just call me Ben. I live with my grandparents and cousin. My grandmother is a sorceress and is one of the best out there. Over the last few days, I regained the love of dragons that I had when I was little, and I don't think being here will be as bad as I thought it was going to be."
As Ben finished, he started to smile at the thought of Kevin, but straightened up as he felt the stares of three confused students.
Marello cleared his throat and said, "Alright then, now let's get the first part of our day started. I'll be taking you all on a tour of the grounds, while Tasha gets ready for a special event happening after the tour. I'm warning you now, if you try and make a run for it, I will catch you and make your stay here far more embarrassing than it has to, ask Alan if you don't believe me."
Ben looked over at Alan, who had an awkward smile on his face, and started rubbing the back of his head.
Marello turned around and asked everyone to walk ahead of him so he could watch them. The tour was an interesting one, if you could call it that. Marello took them to almost every building on the grounds and told them when it was built, what it was used for, and something he did to screw up with a teacher while he was at school here. Everyone found Marello easy to talk to, though the young man had an odd sort of charm to him. The second to last building they came to were the dorms they'd be staying in.
"Alright guys and here are the dorms; you'll be staying on the third floor of this place, and I'll show you which hallway is yours. However, we have one little problem, we only have three bedrooms open in this hallway for you guys and I was hoping two of you would be willing to share a room," Marello said as the group walked into the building.
The first to answer was Michael, who stated that he wouldn't be sharing a room with anyone. Marello rolled his eyes at the bratty kid, and looked at the other three. Cooper sighed and said he wouldn't mind sharing a room since he had done it before, and a moment later Alan said he would volunteer to be Cooper's roommate. Ben eyed Alan suspiciously for a moment and noticed a slight difference in his skin color. It was almost impossible to see with his dark skin color, but if you looked very closely you could see it. Ben thought it was cute to see Alan blush, once he realized he sounded a little too excited about being Cooper's roommate.
Marello nodded his head and said, "Okay, now I'll show you guys your rooms. They were designed with the idea of housing a dragon and you in the room so it may be a bit big."
Marello took them through the lobby to an elevator and straight to the third floor. As the door opened, the new students got a good look at many of the upperclassmen playing around and rough housing. They were incredibly loud, which quickly started to bother Marello. The normally smiling young man glared out into the crowd. As he walked out of the elevator, Marello started to shout. "What the hell do you morons think you're doing?" Everyone who was in the hallway stopped moving and looked towards Marello. One of the seniors smiled at the shorter man and walked over to him.
"Well, we were having some fun, and getting' a lil' exercise. How about you join us cutie?" the foolish teen said.
Marello's glare turned icy-cold as he looked at the older teen. "Were you there this morning for the announcement of the new students and teachers?" Marello asked.
The teen laughed saying that everyone who was in the hallway decided to skip it. Marello smirked and looked back to his students. "Well maybe next time you should come, seeing as I'm one of the new teachers."
The older teen laughed thinking Marello was just trying to look tough. "No way someone as small and as cute as you could ever be a teacher." It was then everyone in the room felt a sudden spike of overwhelming power flow throughout the floor.
The older teen nervously looked back towards Marello and saw a strange icy-blue aura running wildly over his slim frame. Marello's face was hidden behind a screen of dreads, but as he lifted his head to the older students, they all knew they were up Shit Creek.
"You've got some nerve to call me short jackass; I've beaten infant trolls with more respect than you. Now all of you have till the count of three to clear this floor and get out of my sight before I do something a lil' drastic," Marello said in a creepy over-lapped deep voice. Ben, Michael, Cooper and Allan shook in nervousness as they thought about what kind of man their teacher would be, if this pissed him off. Marello counted to three and since none of the fools had any sense to run, Marello's eyes began to glow the same color as the aura that surrounded his body.
A serial-killer crazed smile crept its way onto Marello face as he raised his right arm and opened his palm to them. The strange aura soon wrapped itself around his hand and Marello flexed his hand slightly and released a beam of energy that filled the rest of the hall. As the beam vanished, Marello dropped his hand back down and turned back to his students with an apologetic grin on his face. "Sorry guys, I'll have to show you your rooms after class. I just froze the entire floor, and I know I'm gonna get in trouble for this." Marello said, scratching the back of his head. When Ben and the others looked behind their teacher, they were stunned to see that the hallways were encased in ice, as well as the idiots who skipped classes.
"Umm, are they going to be okay?" Alan asked as he pointed to the upperclassmen. Marello straightened up and walked back to the elevator. "Those idiots will be fine, cold, but they'll thaw out in an hour or so."
The new students looked at one another and shivered in fear of what just happened, but they quickly boarded the elevator and followed Marello out of the building, as said teacher pulled out his looking glass and called someone to unthaw the third floor.
After a quick walk from the dorms, they came to a sectioned-off portion of the campus. These buildings seemed older than the rest of the grounds, but still held a sort of old-world charm. (A/N: Think old medieval castles.) As they entered the building, Marello turned to face the students and asked, "So does anyone know what building this is?" One answered his question and the young council member sighed. "Okay, so this was part of the original castle where the first King of Paragon ruled." Everyone perked up at the news and began to look around them. As they looked and stared at the old building, they soon came into a large room with statues of different busts of several dragon types. Alan scouted closer to Cooper and looked nervously around the odd room. They began to pass shelves full of old and creepy-looking objects, as well as a few jars of body part that most people would never have displayed to the public.
They soon came to the center of the room with an altar in the middle of a huge magical circle. When Marello turned to face them again, his face was relaxed but serious as he began speak once more.
"Alright guys, this is where your journey begins. This was the site of an ancient ritual called the Calling. It was held here due to its position. If any of you studied magic, would know that this room sits atop of a powerful spiritual nexus and it helps to make the Calling more effective. The ritual opens one's heart and mind to every dragon on the planet. This process helps to find a rider his true dragon partner. When I say true partner, I mean that a dragon and its rider can become almost as one on a mental level; they will have similar beliefs and can act on the other's moves without words. This ritual was ended when a member of the Dragon Rider Council wasn't divined the dragon he thought he was suited for. It was then that riders go out and try to tame the dragons. As new riders went out and began taming dragons, the methods that the first dragon riders used soon stopped working. We now know that to use the ancient methods, a dragon and its rider's heart must resonate as one. So you can imagine how lucky few were to tame a dragon and were able to meet the requirements necessary to learn the ancient methods. That is why you all are here; you will be the first class of students to help bring back the old ways. I know that what we ask of you all is great, but please listen to me. There is a war brewing and we're going to need all the help we can get. If you won't learn these methods for the sake of the riders, learn them so you can protect the ones you love."
Marello's speech touched each of the students differently, but they all agreed that they would learn the old ways to protect what they held dear.
Then the sound of clapping and the clicking of heels filled the room, Tasha walked into the dimly lit room. She wore a soft smile and patted her young friend on the back and looked at the group of four. "If you still wish to leave, this will be your last chance to do so. I know that the king made your attendance mandatory, but we'll just tell him you never showed up and t just let it go." Tasha said softly.
Ben looked at the others curiously and said, "I'm staying; I'm going to defend what's most important to me and I know dragon training will help me do this." Ben stepped towards the smiling dragon riders and turned to face his peers. Alan looked over at Michael and Cooper and began to walk over towards Ben. "I'm with him. I'm not gonna sit on the sidelines and let my big bro have all the fun."
Cooper watched Alan walked and stand by the dread-haired instructor and silently followed the call to his heart.
Michael sighed and said he'd fight for justice as well. "Besides, my father wouldn't let me return home with such an excuse of me being too scared." With everyone in agreement, Tasha told the students to stand in one of the four empty glyph-like circles and close their eyes.
Tasha and Marello walked to the altar and placed their hands over a blood ruby that was imbedded into the altar's shrine. They two closed their eyes and began to chant in a forgotten tongue.
"Patefacio vestri pectus pectoris , patefacio vestri mens. Permissum lemma exsisto sentio per extraho quisnam resonate per is animus. Extraho quisnam exsisto recedentia quod near permissum vos animus sono per is unus quod reperio vos socius a amicus , quod a pectus pectoris tribuo elucido per divinus unus!"
The blood-red gem began to shine and its light soon filled the room. The altar soon allowed the power of the blood gem flow through its stones and into the magic circle itself. As the circle was filled with the odd gem's power, the four students began to feel very lightheaded to the point they were placed in a deep trance. Their bodies began to float in the air and seemed lifeless, and the circle let their souls find the dragon who would match the harmony of their own soul.
Marello and Tasha continued to chant and did their best not to interfere with the spell, however, after nearly twenty minutes, the two young warriors began to grow tired. However, it seemed that their silent prayers were answered as they heard each student call out a color in the same overlapped creepy voice Marello used earlier. The glyph the dragon they called appeared in the empty node and the students soon returned to the ground, waiting for the last portion of the ceremony to take place. Marello and Tasha smiled as Cooper, the last one to call out a color, touched ground.
"Extraho quisnam have electus a veho , exorior ut is locus quod sto praeter vos electus unus," the two warriors called as the glyphs below each student began to shine with a radiant light.
Once the light began to fade, Tasha smiled as she looked at her students. Each of them was sleeping soundly, tucked under the wing or in Alan's case – tail, of their new partner. However, her eyes grew wide in shock as she looked at the dragon Ben got. The dragon had black scales and a fiery red mane, which belonged to one Kevin E. Levin, prince of the dragons.
TBC…
Okay, so I know I'm late with this story but I was tired and wanted a break, ok….Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter; the next chapter will mark the beginning of training and a lil' more intimate moments for Ben and Kevin. Please review for me so I can start the next chapter, okay? Oh and if you want to know what incantation was used, I've got it below. TTFN…
Open your heart, open your mind. Let them be judged by the dragon that resonates with this soul. Dragon who be far and near let your soul sing with this one and find your partner, a friend, and a heart granted to light by the divine one.
Dragons who have chosen a rider, come forth to this place and stand beside your chosen one.
